Data Recovery Service

External USB Drives: Who do you Turn to if they Fail?

External hard drives are fantastic for storing large amounts of data locally, without uploading it to the cloud or overloading your computer’s internal drive. However, as reliable and sturdy as most portable hard drives are, mishaps and malfunctions leading to data loss happen. This can be annoying at best, devastating at worst: if you have weeks and weeks’ (or years and years’) worth of data stored in your external hard drive when it fails, then you can feel absolutely destroyed. This can be caused by accidental deletion, infection from viruses, corrupted data, or various other technical and mechanical issues.

Recover Files On External USB Hard Drives

Can you get data back? Can you recover all those lost files? Possibly – each situation is different. Professional data recovery specialists can retrieve all lost data, no matter how hopeless you might feel. Experts can disassemble your external drive and diagnose problems quickly, unravelling any problems of lost data.

The first thing you should do is stop using the external hard drive straight away – when the data is lost, the space used to house your files doesn’t vanish, meaning the system will recognize the space as being available for use, leading any new saved data or files to overwrite the old items you can’t access. This will only make the situation worse, avoid this temptation at all costs.

Check Enclosures

Your external hard drive may fail because of a problem with a connection within the enclosure – if this is the case, experts may be able to revive your drive. Using specialized file recovery tools and IDE/SATA to USB adapters, reviving your USB enclosure is very possible. Connecting the hard drive, using proprietary USB extraction tools can retrieve all your lost files. eProvided will recognize your corrupted drive and assign it a drive letter, retrieving all your lost files.

Software Rescue

Various types of software are available for recovering data from failing external hard drives, though if you’re uncertain how to use these, or how effective they are, discuss this with your recovery service provider – they’ll offer recommendations to fix the problem in-house, tinkering with data recovery software will often lead to further damage to storage drives and files.

Prevention Tips

Recovery data specialists should be able to recommend some methods of preventing data loss, such as backing up to other spaces too, alongside your external hard drive. While USB flash drives are cheap and widely available, these can only store limited amounts of data, and so may only be able to house the most essential materials. On the other hand, cloud storage is becoming more and more popular, and some providers even offer free storage space (up to a certain amount, varying from one company to another) – this may be a viable option, and easy to use: simply upload data to your chosen account once you’ve saved it to your external drive.

Make sure your external drive is stored and positioned safely, well out of the way of feet, children, or pets – knocking it over or bending the ports leading to severe damage. Likewise, avoid overheating, and check that all connectors and USB ports are fitted securely to ensure optimal efficiency. By taking these steps, you’ll reduce the risk of drive damage, and losing all that valuable data. eProvided has a long, successful history recovering data from various storage drive units, particularly external drives. Whatever the cause of your disc drive’s failure, we’ll discover the problem and deliver your files!

eProvided: External USB Drives: Who do you Turn to if they Fail? was last modified: March 10th, 2017 by Bruce Cullen